The Doe and the Wolf
by InkyReader
Summary: Dumbledore is an evil dictator obsessed with power and control. Snape and Lupin band together to try and protect Harry from the ravings of a senile old man
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: This fic is Non Canon. If you don't like fics like this, please don't read it and then get mad at me. You have been warned. Remember, I'm not J.K Rowling. (Although if I was I wouldn't be doing this. I'd be reading this and cringing slightly).

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this fic except for the ones I myself made up. All others belong to the wise and wonderful J.K. Rowling, may she live a long and happy life.

**Introduction**

The wizarding war, according to Dumbledore, was over. Voldemort had been driven into hiding, the Death Eaters had been all but disbanded. The "Light" side had won. According to many other wizards and witches, the war was ongoing, just in a much quieter way. Small battles in politics, feuds between the old families, little things. Just because no real sides had been taken, didn't mean that something wasn't bubbling just under the surface. It was just a matter of time before it boiled over and spilled into the lives of the innocent. The hope of many was resting solely on the shoulders of a tiny black haired toddler with a lightning bolt scar.

**Chapter One**

A tiny little black haired boy was sitting in the corner of an incredibly, abnormally clean living room. His legs were crossed, his head bent in concentration. In his small hands he held an ugly mustard yellow sock, which he was attempting to mend. On the floor next to him was a shirt and a pair of pants, both crudely stitched in several places. As he fumbled with the needle, he accidentally pricked his finger. A squeak of surprise and pain escaped him as he dropped the sock and bent over his hand, inspecting the injured digit.

As he looked up, intending to resume his chore, he came face to knee with a pair of legs. A hand came down from above and slapped him hard in the face. Tears started to slide down his cheeks, but he didn't make a sound.

"HOW DARE YOU START YELLING WHILE YOUR COUSIN IS TAKING A NAP! GET TO YOUR CUPBOARD, AND YOUR UNCLE WILL DEAL WITH YOU WHEN HE GETS HOME."

The boy was yanked to his feet, and dragged out the living room down a hallway. His Aunt unlocked a door under the stairs, opened it, and then used her foot to shove the boy into the extremely dark cupboard.

Landing hard on his hands and knees, the boy waited for his eyes to adjust as best they could before he slowly stood up. Stretching his arms out before him, he inched forward until his hands brushed against something soft. His fingers latched onto it, and he pulled a ragged and dirty baby blanket into his arms. Sinking to the floor, he began to rock back and forth, dreading the moment that his uncle got home. As his unhappiness grew, a very faint glow started to outline his body. Then there was a flash of pure gold, and the little boy toppled over. He was deathly pale, and sound asleep. The flash was a magical block being broken, and the blast, undetectable by muggles, flowed out of the house and into the surrounding neighborhood.

A few blocks away from Number 4 Privet Drive, down a dark alley, something moved. A tiny creature raised its head, its orb-like eyes wide.

"Master! He is needing my help! He is being in trouble!"

There was a loud popping noise, and the bat eared creature disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Severus Snape was sitting in his office, taking a break from grading the drivel his second year students had tried to pass off as essays. Several of them read as though the student had read maybe the chapter headings only during the whole year. Ridiculous. Rubbing his aching temples, he went to his potion cabinet and began to grouchily search for a headache potion. Finding one hiding behind his supply of Niffler whiskers, he downed it in one long draught, and sighed as the relief immediately took effect.

Suddenly, there was a loud _POP _from behind him. Whipping his wand out of his robe pocket, the young man spun around, searching his dim room with wide beetle black eyes. Something in the shadow of his desk moved, and Snape felt his wand get jerked out of his hand. Nervously, Snape pressed himself against the closed cabinet, his body tense.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

His voice was hoarse, and he was surprised by the tendrils of fear snaking through him. Normally he was unflappable. He hadn't felt this way since he had opened his mind to Dumbledore, in order to convince the old fool that his lies were the truth. That he had renounced Voldemort. The old man's mind had felt so incredibly Snape had been dreading more and more that his "employer" would find him out. Being friends with Lucius Malfoy and having just been named Godfather to young Draco had raised Dumbledore's suspicions. He desperately hoped that nothing had happened to make the old man come after him. The thing in the shadows moved again.

"I's Petal, sir."

Snape's eyes widened even more as a tiny house elf stepped out of the shadows. Her huge eyes were an odd purple color, and she was wearing a neat little toga made from a towel.

"Miss Lily told Petal to come to Mister Snape if Master Harry was in trouble. And he is. So I comes."

Snape's head was whirling. Walking to his desk, he sank into his chair.

"Lily…why…what's going on? How did you know where I was? How could Harry be in trouble?"

The little elf scrambled with some difficulty onto the desk, were she then sat herself facing Snape. She held his wand out, and he took it slowly, placing it in his lap.

"Miss Lily was worried that the bad wizard Dumbledore was too interested in Master Harry. Mister James was hurting her, and planning bad things for Master Harry with the bad wizards. So Miss Lily tells Petal that Mister Snape will help Petal protect Master if anything happened to her. She put a bonding spell on Master and Petal, but that bad Dumbledore finds it and blocks it when he takes Master from the house the day Miss Lily died. Today the block gets broken, and Petal feels that Master be's in trouble. So she comes to find Mister Snape. Will Mister Snape help Petal?"

Snape was feeling totally overwhelmed at this point. Lily's son was in trouble, and Lily had been worried that Dumbledore had things planned for Harry, and that James was in on them. Why was Dumbledore trying to hide Harry from the little house elf?

Snape was startled from his thoughts by a tiny hand touching his. He jumped violently, and the house elf toppled off his desk with a surprised squeak. Snape reached down and scooped her off the floor.

"Sorry, Petal was it? Sorry I scared you. I don't really like to be touched."

The elf nodded, as if she already knew this.

"Miss Lily told Petal that. But Mister Snape was not hearing Petal. Miss Lily gave Petal a letter and told Petal to give it to Mister Snape if Master was ever in trouble."

Reaching in a pocket sewn on her toga, she pulled out an old and slightly crumpled envelope. Snape took it with trembling hands. It smelled faintly of lilies. Opening it he pulled out a sheet of paper covered with Lily's neat hand writing.

_My dear friend, _

_ I am so sorry that you are reading this right now, because it means that I am dead and that my son is in trouble. Dumbledore has convinced James that Harry has to kill Voldemort. They are determined to force my sweet little boy to become a sacrificial assassin of some sort. They are both insane. They punish him for crying or playing. They say that he has to be treated this way so that he'll grow up tough. He's barely old enough to understand what people are saying, and only knows a handful of words. Yet they treat him like a soldier. And if I interfere, which I MUST DO, James either beats me or takes it out on my sweet little elf Petal. Yesterday she defied his order to not feed Harry dinner, and he cast a shrinking spell on her. It went wrong, and now the poor little thing is stuck at half her original size. I asked her to give you this letter if she ever felt that Harry was in trouble and needed rescuing. My little boy needs you, Sev. Please find him and protect him from the twisted plans that Dumbledore has for him. Please take Petal into your employ. She is a bright and responsible little elf, and will be of great help with Harry. I wouldn't ask you to do this if there wasn't real need. Please save my son. _

_ Love now and always, _

_Lily _

_P.S. _

_Harry loves stuffed animals, and his favorite food is chips. He loves stories. _

Snape dropped the letter on his desk, and covered his face with his hands. He tried to process all the information in the letter. Petal appeared at his side, and handed him a cup of tea. Taking it, he drank the whole cup in one long swallow.

"Petal, in order for me to be able to help Harry, I have to hide him from Dumbledore. In order to do that, I have to set some plans in motion. I'm going to have to find a way to quit my job without raising suspicion, and I need a good place to hide. I also need to contact Voldemort and inform him of what's going on. I'm going to need some help. For now I think it would be best if you kept watch over Harry while get things going. I have to speak with Dumbledore and start the process of quitting. If I do it now he'll have the summer to hire a new potions teacher."

The elf nodded, looking incredibly happy that he was going to help her.

"Should Petal go now, sir?"

Snape nodded, and the elf disappeared with a _POP!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Remus Lupin lay curled on the floor in Dumbledore's office. His body shook with pain tremors, and his hair was plastered down with sweat. His eyes were clenched tightly shut, and there were bruises on his thin face. A stain was growing on the carpet from blood that was dripping slowly from some hidden wound.

A wrinkled and age spotted hand came down and gently stroked his head. Lupin cringed violently away from the touch, and a chuckle broke the tense silence.

"You know this training is good for you, m'boy."

Lupin responded with a soft growl, and tried to scramble to his feet. Instantly, Dumbledore's visage changed from that of a concerned grandfather to very, very angry. His light blue eyes darkened and lost their playful sparkle, and he slowly raised his wand.

"CRUCIO!"

Lupin's thin frame was thrown across the room by the force of the unforgivable, and his head cracked against a cabinet. A howl of pain echoed through the office, like the cry of an injured wolf, before Dumbledore finally lifted the curse. Lupin lay on the floor, his body twitching from the residual magic.

"I forgive you for that slip up. You should be grateful to me for doing this. How else would you be able to fight for the light? If you want to be able to do good, to protect the wizarding world, you have to train for it. If you can withstand this, facing Voldemort and his Death Eaters will be easy. You may leave now."

Lupin struggled to his feet and left the room as quickly as he could. Descending the spiral staircase, he meandered through the empty halls in a daze. During the summer, when no students were about, Hogwarts was a foreboding place. Lupin wandered into the entrance hall, and sank to the floor at the bottom of the stairs. He buried his face in his hands, and began to rock slowly back and forth on his heels.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs from the dungeon. Springing to his feet, Lupin attempted to run back up the stairs, but his concussion from hitting his head made him dizzy, and he fell, sprawled on the steps. He heard the footsteps speed up, and he curled into a tight ball, trying to protect himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the surprised and concerned face of Severus Snape. Lupin made one last attempt to get away, but only succeeded in hitting his head again. There was a flash of red, a burst of pain, and then everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Harry lay in his cupboard, his back aching from bending down to clean the kitchen floor, his hands stinging from the cleaners he had been using. He had a black eye from the beating his uncle had given him the day before. He hadn't been allowed any food today, and his stomach was complaining loudly. Harry knew that if he fell asleep, he could forget his hunger for a while, but sleep also meant that he would be subject to nightmares. Flashes of green light, a woman screaming and crying. Harry hated it when other people were sad. Being sad was awful.

Harry was sad a lot. He was so tired of being left on his own in the dark, so tired of being hated by his relatives. All he wanted was for someone to love him, to hold him close and protect him. As he started to drift off to sleep, Harry thought that he felt someone stroking his hair. He unconsciously moved into the loving and tender touch. As he entered the realm of dreams, he heard a soft, slightly squeaky voice singing a lullaby.

Petal looked down at her young master as he slept. He looked so peaceful and so careworn at the same time. Brushing his hair out of his face, Petal carefully sent a trickle of elf magic to her master, healing the nasty bruise on his face. She then covered him with his old baby blanket, and left a small pile of food next to his face, so he would see it when he woke up. Standing, she expertly apparated away to the old alley she had been in when she first felt her master. She would wait. Watch and wait.


	5. Author's Note - Not Giving Up

Hi guys! So sorry I haven't updated in a while. I had a bunch of stuff all written, and then BAM! The hard drive on my laptop got corrupted somehow and I LOST EVERYTHING. I had to get a new one in, and I kinda lost my will to rewrite for a while there, and then I had a short period when I was suicidal...

BUT I'M BACK NOW!

I will have new chapters soon! Hopefully within the next week or so I will get some stuff posted. Again, I am really sorry it's been such a long time. I really meant to be better about this, and then my laptop decided to eat all my work.

I also wanted to mourn the loss of Alan Rickman, as I am writing this on Jan 14th, 2016. He was an incredible actor, and did such a wonderful job portraying Severus Snape. He will be sorely missed.

Thank you very much for your patience and support!


	6. Chapter 5

**_I swear my professors get together and plan to make sure all my tests are scheduled at the same time. I think they want to turn me into a braindead zombie, or drive me insane. One of the two. Anyway, thank you all for being patient, and I really will try to update more regularly..._**

**_Again, I do not own any of the characters, except the ones I made up entirely myself. :) All credit for Harry Potter and friends goes to J K Rowling. _**

**_Happy Reading!_**

Snape stared down at Lupin in shock. The man looked awful. His prematurely lined faced was bruised, and his whole body was trembling slightly. _What on earth had happened?_ Snape bent down and carefully took Lupin's pulse. It was thready. Making a snap decision, Snape gingerly slid his arms under Lupin's shoulders and knees, and picked him up. Snape's eyebrows furrowed at how light the man was. Turning on his heels, Snape quickly made his way back to his office. Lupin needed immediate medical attention.

Kicking his door open, Snape carried Lupin over to the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder, and tossed it in the fire. Stepping inside, he tried not to hit any part of Lupin's damaged body on the bricks.

"Spinners End!"

As he began to spin, Snape realized that Lupin was coming to. He barely had stepped out of the fireplace before Lupin suddenly flailed against him, hitting him and kicking out. Snape lost his footing and fell back, dropping his passenger in the process. Lupin landed in a crouch on the floor, his normally pale blue eyes a feral gold. Snape scrambled to his feet, warily pulling out his wand. Lupin charged at him, a growl rumbling in his chest.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

The hasty spell hit Lupin hard in the chest, slamming him against the wall behind him. He hit his head for a third time, and started to sink to the floor. Before he could fall, Snape cast a sticking charm on him. Immediately he was lifted off the floor an inch or so as his tattered robes fixed themselves to the wall. Trapped, Lupin lowered his head, refusing to look at his captor.

Snape moved forward slowly, shaking his head. While it was true that the two of them had never really gotten along, Lupin had never tried to attack him before. He studied Lupin, noting that the trembling from earlier had become a hard shaking.

Lupin was starting to panic. He didn't know where he was, and Snape had him cornered. He was shaking with uncontrollable fear, and his head was ringing from the three hard hits it had taken. The only things he could focus on were his fear, and the fact that Snape musn't find out what was going on with Dumbledore.

Vaguely, Lupin noticed that Snape was moving towards him, his black eyes fixed on Lupin's chest. Lupin silently cursed when he realized that being stuck to the wall in this awkward position had revealed the deep cut Albus had made across his torso. Snape was getting close, much too close. Frantically, Lupin tried to think of an explanation for the wound, but Snape had reached out to probe it, his face etched with concern. At his touch, Lupin's head snapped up, and his pale blue eyes met Snape's black, and he felt himself being pulled into them.

Snape blanched as Lupin's memories flooded into him. He couldn't stop the flow, and was bombarded by image after image.

_Lupin, a tiny boy, screaming in pain on the ground outside a small house. His father cursing the beast that had attacked his only child. His mother weeping hysterically as she tried to tend to her son. _

_Lupin, 11 years old, on the train to Hogwarts. His worry over the Full Moon coming closer was making him feel sick. How was he going to make friends? Who would want to be friends with him? James Potter appearing, shaking his hand and smiling, introducing Sirius and Peter. _

_The Sorting. Lupin's great relief that he had been sorted into Gryffindor, grateful that the beast in him hadn't forced him into Slytherin. _

_After Hogwarts, James suddenly turning on him, ordering him not to visit Lily and Harry anymore. Lupin's anguish at having to leave the tiny boy with his angry and easily influenced father. His sadness for Lily as she watched her precious son get bullied. _

_Albus's insane anger that James and Lily had been murdered. Albus took it out on Lupin for the first time, resulting in several broken ribs. _

_The sessions with Albus getting progressively worse as the old man gave in to his madness. _

_The session that had brought Lupin into Snape's path. _

Finally, the memories stopped forcing themselves into Snape's head. He collapsed to his knees, and if not for the sticking charm, Lupin would have too. He hung limply from the wall, dread consuming him. _How had Snape done that? _

Reeling from the bombardment of information, Snape had a vague feeling that something about the memories had been slightly off. But a more pressing situation grabbed his attention. Forcing himself back up, Snape looked at Lupin, who was steadfastly avoiding his eyes, waves of fear and confusion rolling off of him. Worried that the extreme emotions Lupin was feeling would cause a panic attack or worse, Snape summoned a calming draught and managed to coax the other man into drinking it. As it took effect, Lupin's shaking slowed into a barely noticeable tremor, and his tense muscles relaxed just a little. Feeling safe enough to do so, Snape removed the sticking charm and steadied Lupin as his feet touched the floor. He looked utterly exhausted, and was having a hard time maintaining his balance.

Lupin flinched just a little when Snape raised his wand to heal the wound on his chest, but the relief of the wound closing was amazing.

"Are you alright? What on earth happened? How did you get in this state?"

Lupin turned his head away, not wanting to talk. He was so tired it hurt. Fortunately, Snape realized this, and didn't press for answers.

"Come on, you need to get some sleep. I have a spare room you can use."

Lupin followed in a daze, wondering what the heck was happening. But he didn't have the energy to do anything but sink onto the bed, and fall immediately asleep.

Snape moved out of the room quietly, shutting the door and magically locking it from the outside using a spell that he had made up years ago, to keep his abusive muggle father out of his room. Then he retired to his own room, to plan how he was going to retrieve and keep Harry safely.

**I know this story is taking some time to really get going, but I have so many ideas it just takes a while to get them straight, and make them all tie in with each other. Harry's story line will be picking up soon! **


	7. Chapter 6

The next morning, Lupin woke up with only very dim memories of the night before. What he did know was that he was in a strange room, and that Snape had brought him here for some reason. Getting up from the bed as quietly as he could, he walked over to the door and tried to open it, but found it locked. A surge of fear spiked through him. _Why am I locked in?_

Hearing footsteps coming down the hall outside, Lupin's momentary distress turned into a full blown panic. Moving against the wall behind the door, he heard the lock click, and the door slowly opened.

Snape stood in the doorway of the dim room, surprised that Lupin wasn't still in bed, and that he was nowhere to be seen. Moving forward, he stepped into the room.

Seizing his chance, Lupin slammed himself into the door, which hit Snape hard, sending him flying backwards. Jumping over Snape as he scrambled to find his wand, Lupin raced down the hall, wildly trying to find a way out. Hearing Snape running after him made him all the more panicky and desperate to escape.

Snape held his side as he ran, silently cursing himself for not being more cautious. Seeing Lupin half run, half fall down the stairs, Snape's concern grew, and he did the only thing he could think to do.

"PETAL! I NEED YOUR HELP!"

There was a loud POP! And the tiny elf appeared next to him, looking at him questioningly.

"Seal the house! Don't let anyone in or out!"

Snape barely gave his instructions before racing after Lupin. He caught sight of Lupin running down the hall into his study. Lupin slammed the door behind him, but Snape was hot on his heels and sent it flying open. Lupin whipped around, a wild, feral look in his wide eyes. He snarled at Snape, before rushing at the window, clearly intending on escaping through it.

There was a bright flash as Petal's magic took effect, just a Lupin hit the window and was thrown back by the force of the full house seal. He landed heavily on his outstretched left hand, and a cracking sound was followed by a yelp of pain.

Snape watched in amazement as Lupin lapsed into a very animalistic state. He was on his hands and knees, his left arm tucked up under his chest. Backing himself into a corner, he whined with pain, and flinched away as Snape drew closer. Carefully, Snape reached out and very gently touched Lupin's head. Lupin drew away from the touch, and whimpered. Crouching, Snape stared at Lupin, confused by the sudden change.

"Lupin?"

Lupin hunched back into the wall, but did not respond.

"Lupin, I need to fix your wrist. I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

There was no reply, but Lupin remained perfectly still as Snape gingerly took hold of his left arm.

"Episky."

Another crack, another yelp, and a brief scramble followed the spell.

Lupin was now back on his feet, his head very low. Snape watched him warily from the other side of the room, wondering if Lupin was going to try to attack him again. After a few minutes, Lupin raised his head a little, and spoke for the first time since Snape had found on the stairs at Hogwarts. His voice was very hoarse, and shook slightly.

"Thanks. Where are we? What happened?"

Snape felt relieved that Lupin was starting to act a little more normal.

"Not at all. Let's talk over breakfast, I'm sure you're hungry."

Entering the kitchen, Snape discovered a full breakfast laid out already, and smiled.

"Thank you, Petal."

Petal curtsied, her eyes glowing with happiness.

"I's happy to be doing it, sir."

As Lupin moved slowly into the kitchen behind Snape, Petal looked at him, surprised.

"Mister Remus! I hasn't been seeing you in a long time! It's good to be seeing you again. Miss Lily was being very sad when Mister James made you go away. Is you going to be helping Master Harry too?"

Lupin stared at Petal, surprise evident on his face. The surprise slowly melted into a brief look of anger, to absolute confusion. He turned to Snape, a question burning in his eyes.

"Come sit. I'll explain everything once we've eaten."

After they ate, Snape spent almost an hour explaining what he had recently learned about Harry. Lupin had gotten up and begun to pace back and forth, anger evident in his stiff posture. But he didn't interrupt until Snape had finished talking. Trying to process the enormity of the situation, Lupin forced himself to sit down again, and tried to form a coherent question.

"Whatarewe…Didyouknowabout…Whothehell…What..Why?"

Snape tried to understand the barrage of half formed and badly garbled questions. His brow knit together, and he struggled to figure out which to answer first. But before he could say anything, Lupin took a deep breath and tried again.

"How are we going to get him? What's the plan?"

Snape was grateful that Lupin seemed ready to help him.

"Well, Petal here is currently keeping me updated on him, and his situation, as I told you, is not a good one. One of the challenges, as I'm sure you realize, will be getting him and keeping him hidden away from Dumbledore and his little group of helpers. But, I think that with the two of us working at it, we should be able to pull it off. I have a safe place in mind, but I'd rather not say where until we have Harry."

Lupin nodded in agreement, his mind racing. His thoughts were interrupted by Snape clearly his throat. Lupin looked at him, eyebrows raised.

Snape ordered his thoughts. Something had been bothering him since last night. He spoke slowly and carefully.

"Last night, when you somehow shared your memories with me, I noticed something very odd. A lot of your memories, especially the ones from your childhood, and some of the ones involving Harry, have been tampered with. With your permission, I would like to try to fix the blocks and remove the false memories. We need to find out what is being kept from you, before we can think about bringing Harry here."

Lupin stood up abruptly as Snape spoke, and noticed the man slip his hand into his pocket, where his wand was. Not wanting to scare Snape into jinxing him, Lupin began pacing again. Stopping as Snape went quiet, Lupin thought for a moment. Looking at Snape, he decided to be honest.

"Madame Pomphrey noticed the same thing. I had been brought to her by Albus after a 'training' session. I was unconscious and pretty beat up, and he had told her that I had been attacked by couple of Death Eaters. She had gone into my mind, to try to figure out why I wasn't waking up. She was worried I might have sustained brain damage from the 'attack'. Once I had woken up, she mentioned to me that something seemed a little off, and that she had sensed residual magic that had all the indicators of Albus's particular style. "

Lupin paused, clearing his throat.

"I want to know what's being kept from me. But I didn't dare do anything about it while I was constantly being watched by Albus. He gets so angry when I question anything, and he gets so strange sometimes. Something's wrong with him."

Snape breathed a sigh of relief at Lupin's admissions. He waited, allowing Lupin to finish.

"You have my permission. Let's get this done so we can help Harry."

**My brain is now a little fried from writing chaps 5 and 6 on the fly. I had an idea of what I wanted to write, so it wasn't that hard, but ordering everything correctly took a bit of time. I really hope people aren't too weirded out by this...**

**"I is liking it so far, Miss."**

**Thank you, Petal. **

**"Is we going to be getting Master Harry soon? I is missing him."**

**Yes, we'll get him soon. Snape and Lupin just have to work a few things out first, ok?**

**"Ok."**


	8. Chapter 7

_**BEFORE READING THIS CHAPTER : Please keep in mind that my story in non-canon. This is how the idea formed in my head, and I'm going to stick with it. I'm really sorry if you don't like it.**_

**None of the characters are mine except the ones I made up myself. Credit for Harry Potter goes to **

**J K Rowling, not me. **

Lupin followed Snape into his study, his mind whirring faster than a Snitch's wings. He had absolutely no idea what he would learn after Snape removed the memory blocks. Lupin looked at the other man, still trying to adjust to the sudden shift in how he now viewed him. In school, Snape had shown an extreme curiosity towards him, which James and Sirius had always been adamant was a poorly disguised hatred. But Lupin had never really formed his own opinion of Snape, just tried to stay out of his way. Lupin had always found his quiet intensity slightly unsettling, because Snape was one of the few people Lupin had a hard time reading.

Snape motioned towards a chair in the far corner of the room.

"Sit there, and I'll prepare both of us for what I have to do."

Lupin sat on the edge of the chair, his nerves starting to get the better of him. Without realizing, he began to shred the cuff of his already ragged sleeve.

"Lupin?"

Snape watched as Lupin jumped, and discreetly summoned a vial of a calming draught.

"Here, you really need to calm down or this is not going to work."

Lupin gratefully drank the potion, and could immediately feel it start to work. His breathing evened out and slowed, and his hands stopped their impulsive movements.

"Good. Ok, what I'm going to attempt to do is called a "Memory Walk." If it works, I should be able to enter your mind through legilamency and assume a sort of spirit form so I can walk through your mind and find and remove each of the blocks, while not invading memories that don't need to be messed with. I wish I could explain it better than that, but this technique fell out of the memories of wizards for years, and was only recently rediscovered. And even now, only a sparse handful of Legilimens know of it. Dumbledore was the driving force behind the Wizengamot banning it from being used, which is ridiculous. This is a very precise and genius discovery that could do nothing but good to those who have had their memories obliterated, changed, or stolen."

Lupin nodded his understanding.

"Ready to get started?"

Lupin nodded again, swallowing hard.

Snape pulled a stool in front of Lupin and instructed him to close his eyes and lay back into the chair. Quickly perusing his notes on final time, Snape took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for what he had to do. Fixing the words of the enchantment in his mind, he began to quietly and carefully chant the words.

"Consentire la mia voce in modo che io possa recuperare cio che e stato perso."

He felt an odd sensation rush up his spine, and stiffened as the spell began to take effect. His body went oddly numb, and he began to feel as though he was floating. Opening his eyes, he knew immediately that it had worked.

Looking around, Snape saw a multitude of images flashing around him, the bursts of sight and sound showing where each memory resided. Walking towards the nearest bunch, Snape saw a moment of himself healing Lupin's wrist a few hours ago, and for a moment he was overwhelmed by a feeling of intense gratitude. Gently brushing the memory aside, Snape saw a small column of black murkiness surrounding a different memory, and reached towards it. A resistance stopped his hands, and he started to chant a different spell to remove it.

"Sbloccare le porte della memoria."

A bright blue light surrounded the black, twisting around it and slowly covering it as the black writhed angrily. As the black became completely covered, a haze eeked out of the blue, and Snape blew it into a small bottle he had taken from his pocket. Then the true memory broke free, and Snape was pulled into it.

_Lupin, a tiny boy of 4, was laying in bed, holding a small stuffed wolf. The little boy was slowly drifting off, before being jerked into full wakefulness by a loud CRACK outside the house. He heard his parents speaking to a voice angrily, before hearing his mother scream, and his father shout in anger, and then two thuds. Clutching his stuffed toy, Lupin shrank into a corner, watching a shadow appear under his door before it creaked open, revealing a man with a long grey beard. _

_"__There you are, you little brat. Your parents thought they could hide you from me, but I have such plans for you. A natural animagus, hmm m'boy? I can't let such talent go to waste."_

_Waving his wand, the scary man pointed it right at little Remus, who was quietly crying. As the spell hit him, the boy morphed into his animagus form, a wolf cub. The scary man chuckled evilly, and began to say a lot of strange words that made Remus hurt. He began going from his wolf form to human to wolf to human, and each time it got more painful to change to a wolf. Remus screamed in pain, and the man finally stopped the bad words. Raising his wand, he slashed it down three times, creating the wounds that would forever scar the little boys face. _

_ "__How execellent. You will now serve me as a spy. I have created the perfect servant for myself. Who would ever want to keep you around if they think you are a werewolf? You'll have to come to me for survival, my own little wolfy pet." _

_Dumbledore raised his wand a final time, and implanted a false memory trail in the child's mind. Now the poor boy would believe that he had been attacked by a monster. He'd grow up hated, forced to seek refuge with the man who had cursed him to imitate the werewolf. _

Snape pulled out of the memory, anger coursing through him. HOW DARE DUMBLEDORE CREATE A MOCK WEREWOLF FOR HIS OWN GAIN!

Stalking forward, Snape found 5 other memories surrounded with black, and pushed them together so he could recover them all at once and finish his task. Repeating his earlier spell, Snape captured the black mist that rose off each of the 5 memories, and then before he could get pulled into anymore memories, he finished the process of the Memory Walk by uttering the final two spells.

"Rimuovere tutti I magic indesiderati. Sanare cio che e stato ferito."

Snape felt the floating sensation again, and opened his eyes to see Lupin staring at him, shock written clearly on his face. Snape quickly summoned another calming draught, just in case.

"I'm… not a…a uh…uh…a werewolf?"

Snape was about to reply when Lupin collapsed back, his eyes rolling back into his head. A black smoke poured out of his eyes, mouth, and ears as Snape's final spells took effect. Snape took up his wand and summoned his patronus, a delicate silver doe. She cantered around the room, rearing on her hind legs to box away the ominous cloud. Stopping by Lupin's side, she gently nuzzled his face before disappearing.

Lupin groaned, struggling to sit up straight once again. Putting his hand to his face, he felt fur sprouting and looked at Snape in panic.

"What's going on?"

Snape fought back worry that something was going wrong and replied.

"The curse is reversing itself. Just let it work itself out."

Once again, Lupin began to flick from human to wolf to human to wolf. The quick change transformations stopped where they had started, on the wolf. Snape studied Lupin's form, amazed. As a wolf, Lupin was about the size of a great dane. Being a natural animagus, his form was not constricted by true size, as the learned or taught animagi were. His coat was a speckled gray, his left hind foot completely black. His eyes were bright gold. Lupin looked at Snape, and tilted his head, much like a dog. He looked so comically confused that Snape burst out laughing, his rich baritone rumbling through the room. The wolf sneezed (the closest thing to a laugh he could do) and then changed back to human. Lupin stared at Snape, bemused. He'd never heard the man laugh before. Before he knew it, Lupin was chuckling himself.

Neither mans' mirth lasted long. They both were troubled at the lengths Dumbledore was willing to go to further himself and his twisted ideals.

"I don't understand. Why wouldn't he just find an actual werewolf?"

Snape was quiet for a few minutes, mulling the question over.

"I think he wanted to see if he could make one, but without the mess involved. Since you weren't actually bitten, he didn't have to deal with the dangers of having one at Hogwarts, which would explain why you were admitted despite the prejudice. Also, the memory seemed to indicate that he had been wanting you under his thumb for a long time. Unfortunately, since both of your parents were squibs that were disowned, we don't have a record of what they may have done to anger Dumbledore enough to do this to a child. And since they both died the year you started at Hogwarts, we won't know what happened unless Dumbledore tells us himself."

Lupin shook his head angrily.

"How twisted of a person do you have to be to make a child believe that everyone would hate them no matter what? I HATED myself as a child. I was sure that if anyone found out what I was, they would abandon me or worse. In fact, I see now that James and Sirius DID know what I was, or really, what I wasn't. They used that information to torment me in school! James used it as a pretense to force me to never see Harry again! I had gone over for a visit, and tried to stop James from trying to force Harry to do accidental magic before he was a year old! Lily was desperate for help, and had called me to try to talk some sense into James. When I got there, I could see that James had hit her, so I went to confront him, and he accused me of trying to bite him. He then banned me from the house. I couldn't get within 50 feet of the place!"

Petal popped into the room, her purple eyes wide with concern.

"Petal is hearing lots of shouting. Is you being alright, Mister Remus?"

Remus smiled weakly at her.

"I'm alright, Petal. I just learned a lot about James, Sirius, and Dumbledore. It upset me."

Petal nodded, her ears flapping. She turned to Snape, looking unhappy.

"Petal has just been checking on Master Harry. He is being very scared and alone. Is we going to get him soon?"

Snape nodded.

"We'll go get him now."

**Spells used are in Italian:**

**Consentire la mia voce in modo che io possa recuperare cio che e stato perso**

**Allow my entry so I may recover what has been lost**

**Sbloccare le porte della memoria **

**Unlock the doors of memory**

**Rimuovere tutti i magic indesiderati**

**Remove all unwanted magic**

**Sanare cio che e stato ferito**

**Heal what has been hurt**


End file.
